Standard Disclaimer: These characters belong to G. Lucas and T. Zahn. In other words: not mine.
Dedication: To anyone who loves hot chocolate.
Rating: M
Spoilers/Timeline: After The Corellian Trilogy but before "Vision of the Future".
A/N: Do read and review. FINALLY! Back to the non-edited version.

Lightheaded
Chapter 17: You Added The Strings

Luke awoke sometime in the early hours of the morning, unused to the sensation of sleeping on the floor. The carpet, while soft, still left him feeling sore. Mara was sprawled out beside him, her hair still tied, but in a messy spray across her face. Sleeping on her hand, she had one leg hooked over his, and one of her hands was on his chest. He had slipped of her sometime during the night, and now he sat up, and gently extricated himself from her embrace.

You're beautiful, and you're mine, even though you think you're free. He sat there for a few moments, just watching her sleep. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

We're good together, can't you tell? He picked her up slowly, and moved her to the bedroom. She stirred, and half-awoke.

"Luke?" she murmured in askance.

"Shh… just moving to the bedroom." He placed her gently on the bed and pulled up the covers.

"Okay." She turned over and went back to sleep. He smiled on her sleeping form, and removed her hair fastener slowly, careful not to wake her again. Softly caressing her hair, he was fighting his feelings from spilling out and being broadcast.

We're good together, Jade. Don't fight it. Don't fight this. Giving her hair one last touch, he stood up and stretched. Stars! I haven't had that much exercise since… well, since that last training session on Yavin. He smiled. If the Praxeum came up with such innovative exercises, he was sure he would hear less complaints from the younger initiates. Probably get requests for more such exercise. He chuckled silently as he walked to the 'fresher.

After relieving himself, he walked to the sink to wash his hands, and saw Mara's thong around one of the water spigots, discarded so carelessly earlier. He picked it up, put it to the side, and washed his hands. Deciding to keep it as a souvenir of their first time together, he walked out to the living room and shoved the little piece of underwear into one of the inner pockets of his Jedi robe, discarded near the entrance door. He lay it over the couch, and shook out his cream tunic and pants as well, strewn in various places around the living room.

And then he stood there, wondering what to do.

Looking at the chrono, he realised that it was close to sunrise. Guess I'll be using the 'fresher first then. Picking up his soiled briefs, he walked to the 'fresher and closed the door. He rinsed it out and left it on one of the pegs. Probably have to go commando today, he thought as he opened a cupboard, looking for a towel. Finding one, he placed it on top of the closed toilet, and turned on the water.

Showering quickly, he was wondering what to say to Mara when she woke. Mara, we have to talk. No, too clichéd. Mara, we had sex last night. No, too obvious. Mara, we belong together. No, she'd probably burst out laughing in my face. Or slap me. Or worse. Luke was at a loss, soaping his hair and scrubbing his head, willing himself to think harder.

Or, he sighed as he rinsed the soap out of his hair, I could just leave. Wasn't that what she wanted? 'Friends with benefits', she had said. We'll see how she takes me leaving. Then he abandoned that line of thought. Looks like I'm not doing too well with this great idea of having great sex with a good friend, Luke thought ruefully. Finished with his quick shower, he shut off the water and started towelling his hair.

He wrapped the towel around his hips and contemplated his reflection. Absently noting his five o-clock shadow, he wondered if Mara kept shavers on hand for gentlemen callers. Probably not. Or was he being too optimistic? Save for the towel cabinet, the bathroom had no other shelves or cubby-holes to keep such amenities. Her tooth-cleaner was neatly stored in a cup at the side of the sink, and her face cleansers stood beside the cup.

Think, Jedi, think.

Luke smiled as he got an idea. I'll make her breakfast.

Walking away to pull on his pants, he couldn't help thinking that he was just delaying the inevitable showdown.

-----

Mara awoke a few hours later to the smell of fried eggs and nerf slices. He'd been keeping a Force tendril open for her, and felt her sense change when she started to wake up. He started frying the eggs and slices then. Sending her an invitation to join him at the table, she walked out of the bedroom in a loose robe and into the 'fresher, ignoring him for the moment as she completed her morning cleansing rituals. Emerging a few minutes later, she sat at the counter, where Luke had placed two plates.

She looked at him. "When I said 'friends with benefits', I never though there'd be so many benefits," she commented blandly.

He turned back to the frying pan. "Almost done. Get your plate ready." She lifted her plate and he slid half of the eggs and nerf slices onto her plate. She picked up the other plate and he dumped the rest onto it, replacing the hot pan onto the cooking unit.

He turned around to see Mara transferring half of her eggs and slices onto his plate. "Too much, I don't eat that much in the morning," she muttered under her breath, almost to herself. He smiled. Something to file away for future reference.

He poured her caf, strong and black, just as she liked it, and another for himself. "When do you need to get to the office?" he asked in between bites.

She glanced at the chrono as she chewed. "Oh, about eight hundred hours, I suppose. Karrde doesn't really make us punch in; so long that we get our job done right." She avoided looking at his face. He swallowed his bite of egg, and chewed on a bit of nerf slice.

"I'm leaving for Yavin tomorrow evening," he said abruptly. She looked up at him finally. "Oh." A wary look in her eyes.

"Just thought you'd like to know."

"Thanks for the info." She dropped his gaze and continued eating.

"Where will you be?" If you're going to play it that way, then I'm just going to push, Jade.

"Oh, here and there." She played with her food as she chewed. Another thing to note.

"Will you let me know?" Before I start stalking you?

She sighed. "I'll leave you a message on Yavin, alright?" Swallowing the last of her food, she got off her chair and started washing her plate. Leaving it to drain on the rack, she paused at the sink. Luke regarded her figure, and seeing her hands clenching at the edges of the sink, swallowed his food and prepared for… anything.

Her shoulder muscles bunched, and her hands grasped the edges of the sink, fisting and relaxing. Luke wondered what was going on in her mind. He was about to reach out to her with the Force when she turned around.

"I don't think you can do this."

"Do what?" Luke asked.

"Sex without strings."

He raised his eyebrows at that. "You'd be surprised at what I can do." He smirked a little. "In fact, I'm quite sure you were pretty surprised last night."

She coloured, but did not detract from the subject. "Any other man would have left last night. That's what sex without strings is. Instead, you're here, cooking me breakfast. That's sex with strings."

He answered carefully. "No, Mara. This is me, without sex and without strings. You said 'friends with benefits'. If I weren't your friend, I'd leave. But I'm your friend first. You're the one intent on adding the strings. I just made you breakfast. As your friend. As if we'd not had sex last night. You added the strings."

"I didn't add any strings!" Her mouth fell open in surprise.

"You added strings the moment you woke up and wanted me gone," he said mildly. "Your condition was that there would be no expectations after sex. I'm," he emphasized with a shrug of his shoulders, "not expecting anything at the moment, apart from you being your regular self. You, on the other hand, expected me to become a totally different person from who I really am, and just leave you, a lady whom I have just passed a delightful night with, alone in the morning." He picked up his empty plate and walked towards the sink. "So tell me, Jade, who really added the strings here?" Walking right into her, and placing his plate in the sink, he trapped her between his body and the washing unit.

"So technically," his voice low and mouth close to her left ear. "You've already violated our agreement from last night." He gave her earlobe a lick, and felt her shudder. "So technically, I don't have to stand by the agreement." They were both starting to breathe a little deeper at the close contact.

With effort, he pulled away abruptly. "However," he started again conversationally. "Just to show that I'm a good sport, I'll ignore this first lapse. But," he kissed her swiftly when she started to interrupt him. "But… we're not doing anything again until you agree that we're going to try for a proper relationship."

Her eyes narrowed. "Can I speak now?"

Amused, he nodded his head slightly, still not releasing her from the makeshift prison of his body and the sink. She leaned forward into his body, and he stopped smiling. She was, which put him on the alert immediately.

"And what makes you think," she whispered hotly in his ear, "that you can stand not doing anything?" And licked at his earlobe.

Luke swallowed and took a deep, cleansing breath. "Because you're worth waiting for, Jade."

Her eyes flashed in annoyance. "What happened to 'I'll take you any way I can get, Jade'?" she pushed him away. "All I wanted was to relieve some of this…" she gestured between them. "Tension that always hanging between us."

He leaned against the sink and folded his arms against his bare chest. "That went out the window the moment you forsook our original agreement, which I should never had agreed to. I'm offering a counterproposal, one with higher stakes – but a higher payoff as well." His eyes gleamed. "The next time, Jade… the next time there's no going back. You know I play for keeps."

She pondered upon this for a moment, a thought wrinkle marring her perfect forehead. It cleared suddenly, and she smiled, a feral smile, and suddenly, Luke wasn't so certain of his impulsive brainstorm.

"I accept your offer, but also demand a penalty for my side." Wary of her, and very aware that she was a master negotiator at trade talks (why else would she be in Karrde's employ?), he nodded.

"If you come to me first… then we'll play by my rules instead. Sex without strings." She waved her hand in the air in front of her face. "Oh sure, you can stay the night, make me breakfast, paint my toenails, whatever, but that will be the underlying arrangement between our… nightly activities. Sex without strings."

Luke's eyes darted around her kitchen unit. If I win, I get her. If she wins, I get her – but not all of her. Decisions, decisions.

"Done."

"Done."

Luke had a feeling that it was going to be a short, but intense competition.